What a hectic few days it’s been!
I got back to the UK and reunited with Louis, and since then it’s been a non-stop whirlwind of tricycle building and getting the last few items we need. It turns out that there’s a fair few things you need when you plan to cycle and wild camp for 3 weeks. Especially when it’s a new concept self-built trike that possibly requires a few extra spare parts and tools.
First off was getting some more supports welded on between the two back bikes. Louis demonstrating again some excellent free hand angle grinding to get the pieces to fit. Then, it was time to get the front frame and wheel on.
It turns out that when you tell people what you’re doing and that you’re searching for old bikes, people have loads of them. Louis mentioned it in passing and ended up being given for free 2 old bikes from his work colleagues. Therefore we had a great selection. The original Emelle Cougar as the rear-right bike. The original Raleigh Mustang as the front bike and then a Raleigh Massie with a snazzy colour way as the rear-left bike. That left two other ones laying around that we chop shopped for spare parts when needed. Turned out to be really handy when we were looking for anything like brake pads or cables or just random bolts & washers.
All of this work was having to be done late into the night when Louis was back from work. Again, his neighbours must have loved the late night welding and metal cutting sessions. Surprisingly spot on welding considering it was done in the darkness too. With it now starting to resemble a trike, the excitement was high. So we both hopped on to check it out.
This lasted maybe 5 seconds.
“Ah we need to get off it’s bending”
Some more supports were needed. Nothing major though. And, with tangible progress we were spurred on.
While Louis was at work I made an extended brake from the front wheel all the way back to our handle bars and some other adjustments before going to pick up a few last minute items. However, to get to town, there was only bikes in half fit states. Had to change a tyre, add a seat and add some pedals before there was a running steed to use.
I was struggling with the sudden cold spell in England and shivering while working on the bike, so a probably over the top down jacket was purchased. The blow up pillow that I’d got online with the tent was pretty much as thin as two sheets of A4 paper, so a new one of those was necessary too. Combined with our online orders of a lightweight tarp (£13) we were pretty much all set.
We welded on another cross support that evening. We were then able to sit on the beast and there was no jumping off. Bloody good times.
We then had to drive fair few hours down to Louis’ parents south of London. We were picking up a van, that we’d then drive back down again the next day with the trike. As our starting point was down south, not from Derby. So we got down past 9pm. Ate lovely big dinner from Louis’ mum. Got the van and drove back to Derby arriving about 1:30am.
A late night before Louis’ last day of work for 3 weeks.
Once he was back from being a corporate slave we drove loaded up the trike, the welding machine, all the tools, scrap metal and spare parts we might possibly need, into the van and set off. We of course got caught in Friday afternoon rush hour and crawled along the motorway. I was driving while Louis was sending work emails and presentations off. Can’t get enough of it, that bloke.
With the traffic delay we arrived reasonably late, so there was no daylight or tricycle time. We did bring most of our kit and luggage in to see what we had, how to pack it and what wasn’t going to make the cut.
Saturday (the 14th) morning rolled around and the sun was out. We were ready for our final day or trike building and testing!
We decided to get the trike out and just go for a ride on it. No better way to figure out what was still needed.
We did know that one priority thing we had to sort was steering, as there wasn’t any. But, for this test ride we just got two bits of rope attached to the front handlebars. Louis had one side and I had the other. This sounds like a recipe for disaster but, it actually worked surprisingly well. As did the whole trike!
We cruised off the drive and around the country lanes. It wasn’t as heavy to pedal as we thought. The worst parts were getting used to the sensations of having no front wheel and feeling like you’d tip over on a camber. I even dropped my chain on a hill and Louis managed to drag us up by only him pedalling. Good to know if I ever get tired.
Every car we passed loved it, hopefully that continues on our trip, although I highly doubt that it will.
This tiny ride had me absolutely buzzing. We’d gone from an idea and a few old bikes into an actual easy pedalling trike, cruising along country lanes in the sun.
Safely back in the workshop (Louis’ parents drive) we knew what final bits needed to be sorted. Louis upgraded the steering from rope to metal bar. While he was at it, he made a spare bar that is now cable tied to the frame. Only things left was a cross support to stop some twisting, building luggage racks, cutting off excess metal for weight reduction, and other smaller tinkerings.
Louis brother Ash came by to see the thing. His initial reaction was laughing but, he couldn’t resist giving it a ride. Louis and him went out and when they returned he was pleasantly surprised. A great deal of approval from someone who’s cycled from England to Australia. He brought some tools we needed and donated a few other things that were greatly appreciated.
We got a few more bits on. Louis built a pannier rack as we only had one between the two bikes. He then set about welding the last support on. He then touched up some other welds as he could actually see for once, this being the first daytime welding of the trike so far.
The day was again getting away from us but, she was pretty much done. We wanted to get out for at least a 10 mile test to see what might fall off or could be altered.
We clipped panniers on and filled them with tools and water bottles to try and mimic our luggage weight and were ready to go.
Then on the final pre launch checks, just as the countdown was approaching zero, we realised we had no front brake.
The heat from the welding (or maybe Louis’ eyesight) was melted one of the cable holders.
A few minutes of deliberation later and we were able to shorten the cable and bypass the ruined holder.
Then we were off!
Pretty soon after leaving we were on a tasty uphill that we got up astonishingly well (aka we didn’t get off and push) and we were flying along the roads.
One time we hit a decent size pot hole and with my back wheel in the air we nearly tipped over. Good to know what to avoid.
Going around corners we have to both lean, to counter the tilt. Pretty funny to watch I imagine. Our novelty horn was loved by every cyclist we passed, and also pretty useful to alert reversing cars and that.
We rode along pretty easily, and ticked off 5 miles before we knew it. We then turned into a car park to practice out turning circles for any city centre navigating we have to do. And again, for something I thought would be as mobile as a lorry, it actually turned pretty sharply. Due to a quirk of the steering it turns better left than right, but you can’t have it all.
We then cycled back the way we came. Our ride ended at 17.5km (10.8 miles) in 49 mins. A max speed of 43 km/h and no crashes. Beyond ecstatic.
Louis was slightly more subdued, and I was worried it’s because he knew something critical about the trike that I didn’t, or was going to miss being at work. But, it turned out he was just tired. I guess being chief engineer and having a full time job, is more tiring than being media manager, occasional engineers assistant, and no job. He’ll be back with a bang tomorrow I’m sure.
It’s real. It’s happening. Admittedly not fully loaded up yet but, maybe we can actually cycle this thing pretty far through Europe.
We then spend the evening packing what we had into panniers. Even with us taking basically nothing (1 t shirt, 1 pair of shorts etc) it somehow adds up. We’ve been pretty ruthless but camping and cooking items add up.
Tomorrow morning we’ve got to load it all on the bike. Probably build one more luggage rack to fit it all. Tighten everything up. Get dropped at the start like and then cycle off to Dover! Hopefully, really hopefully, making our ferry ride the following day…
